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Smartwatches are looking more like normal watches, but they’re still entirely different objects. You can't unlock their full functionality unless you tether them to your phone. And battery life is an issue—you’ve got to charge a smartwatch every day.

Those things don't change with Samsung's new smartwatches, but they take a step in the right direction for wearable tech. The new Gear S3 models look great, with stainless-steel bodies that can be used with any 22mm strap. It looks like Samsung is straying away from the futuristic looks of the Gear S2 and going all-in on the design cues of its S2 Classic model. In terms of size and styling, these are strictly men's watches.

The sportier Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is the more feature-loaded of Samsung's new offerings, with a 4G LTE connectivity option. Both it and the new S3 Classic offer IP68 water-resistance and higher-capacity batteries than their predecessors. Both new watches still run Tizen, and they have Samsung Pay's magnetic secure transmission technology built into them. With the LTE option, you can make and receive calls without a phone nearby.

Samsung

The S3 Frontier is the only one of the two with that LTE option, and it’s also slightly heavier (2.18 ounces) than the new S3 Classic (2.0 ounces). Both models share the same rotating-bezel UI that made previous versions of the Gear watch so compelling, and their 1.3-inch AMOLED screens are slightly bigger than the S2 lineup.

Battery life should be a bit better, as both watches have a 380mAh cell tucked inside. Last year’s models offered 250mAh and 300mAh batteries, so this is an improvement. While both new watches have a bit more RAM (768MB versus last year’s 512MB), they still have 1GHz dual-core processors and 4GB of storage on board. Neither watch will be compatible with iOS out of the box; you'll need to use Android for your watch-to-phone interplay.

Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and NFC are on board for both watches, and each model has an accelerometer, gyroscope, heart-rate sensor, and barometer built into it. One of the biggest design changes with the Classic version is that it has a pair of raised crowns on its right edge; like the Frontier edition, the S2 lineup’s buttons were flush with the edges.

No hard release date has been announced yet, although Samsung says the watches will be available through Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile at carrier-determined prices. They’ll go on sale later this year.